'On the Soul': the reach of motion, sound, and mind
A prose meditation, with a canal cross-section of a reinforced bank
Under the heading 'De anima' (On the Soul), Leonardo reflects on how disturbances spread: earth pressed against earth barely moves the struck parts, water struck by water makes circles around the point of impact, and the voice carries far through air and farther through fire. He concludes that the mind reaches farther still, through the universe, yet being finite it does not extend into the infinite. Below, a labelled red-chalk drawing shows a stretch of canal with a reinforced bank: water, bank, sand.
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'De anima': from earth and water to the mind
A philosophical prose passage headed 'On the soul' compares the reach of motion, of the voice, and of the mind, ending on the finite mind that cannot extend into the infinite.
Propagation of an impact through earth, water, and air
Earth pressed against earth moves the struck parts little; water struck by water makes circles about the struck place; the voice travels far through air and farther through fire.
Canal with a reinforced bank: water, bank, sand
A drawing of a stretch of canal with a reinforced embankment is labelled with its three parts: the water, the bank, and the sand.